Cleaning Plasti Dip Wheels

Before I rip this stuff off, anybody have any ideas on how to *easily* clean plasti dip wheels?

I like to keep my car clean, but it rains a lot here, meaning cleaning my car 2-4 times per week. However, as part of my basic cleaning routine, the plasti dip wheels always turn out horrible. I spray on some simple green, let it sit for a bit, then hose it off. It dries 'dirty'. Same with soap and water and any other method recommended in plasti dip land.

It always dries with a stained look - kind of like cheap black trim on cars of yesteryear. It comes clean if I spend hours meticulously wiping them by hand, but I just don't have time for that every wash; you have to be really careful with this stuff otherwise it just tears off.

Here is how great the wheels looked a few days after application, at a car show:

Now they just look crap, only a few weeks later. I'd like to keep it on, but only if maintenance is easy. I'll probably get new gloss black rims eventually, but not yet.

Here's a close-up. Wheels are quite dirty, but I just cleaned this spoke with some marine-grade degreaser. Seems to work quite well; I tested it overnight on a piece of plasti-dipped wood and it didn't harm it.

Sorry about pic quality; my good camera is in the office - this is from my phone.

Plasti dip seems to come out smoother with heavier spray passes, but you can't really do that on 359's as it'll build up and drip in the corners.

thanks. my truck is white, so you need to be careful if you want a smooth finish, probably not possible with a can, i have the DIY kit. i think ill do my Apex in black. thanks

Yeah DIY kit will be much better. I'm not a fan of the rattle can texture; I did it with initial light coats as instructed but that's how it came out. Flat panels/objects seem to plasti-dip much better since you can go much heavier without worry of build-up.

Still not sure if I'm going to keep it or ditch - it seems to get really dirty fast .. and is a pita to clean.

What you should do is paint over the plasti dip(if you like the flat black or matte look buy a rattle can of that), then clear, and then it will be like any other rim and easy to clean. To go back to stock just peel it off.

I purchased some marine degreaser (seems to be much stronger than the OTC automotive stuff). I tested it on a plasti-dipped piece of wood overnight and it didn't harm it.

Worked quite well on a wheel I tested, and I think that combined with a strong hose/pressure washer will be enough to clean 95%. It's been raining for the last few days though, so no chance to give it a real test.

Originally Posted by blkclk550

Damn you did a good job on the wheels... how many layers?

Thanks! -- I put on 3 light layers, then 3 heavier layers. Worked out to nearly 1 can per wheel.